


Forgiven

by ClaraCivry (Kat_Of_Dresden)



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: And did I mention whump?, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, Feelings, Gen, He's hurt, Major Character Injury, Near Death, Reunion, Rip whump, RipFic, Sadness, She doesn't know how to feel, Whump, although more hurt than comfort, conflicted feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 21:47:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13303926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry
Summary: Sara finds Rip nearly bled out in an alley, and realises how much she's missed him, how much she still cares.Rip whump, conflicted Sara feelings, and Regret™





	Forgiven

“There he is!” Sara screamed from the helicopter, pointing at a bloodied figure on the floor. You could hardly see him with how dark it was, but her eyes good, and trained to be even better.

They had received an unexpected but scary message from what sounded like Rip, in which he said that someone had tried to kill him and would be going for them next. A very useful warning, as the attackers came half an hour later, they were prepared and finished them in no time, later finding out who they worked for and apprehending their bosses too.

So, what could have gone very wrong (as it usually did) turned out surprisingly good because of a little call that made them be prepared, and work so much better. But the thing was, in the call Rip never said if he got to safety, or if there was someone there to heal him. There was only a strangled, out-of-breath voice telling them that these people had tried to kill him.

And Sara was worried, because no matter what had happened between them, Rip was still the person who got them all together, and he was important for her. Even despite herself, she still missed him, and wished they could have him back, fix things. She was a good Captain, maybe she was the better Captain, but Rip... Whatever his flaws he had understood her, and supported her and trusted her many times in spite of being a deeply closed up guy.

And the message made him sound as if he were in his last moments, and he didn't deserve to die to some nobody time criminals... She wanted to know that he was better, that he was safe and she decided that they would make sure. Gideon and the others must have been worried, too, as they didn't complain one bit, just let her do.

His signal was located in a street and Gideon had problems with the cloaking device, so they couldn't take the ship to where Rip was and had to take a helicopter they “borrowed” from a nearby building. It was a tense trip, with Amaya piloting and Ray and Sara looking for any signs of their former Captain.

And there he was, slumped on an alley, bleeding out and only half conscious. Sara was in front of him in seconds.

It was bad.

“Rip?” She slapped his cheek, as soft as she could. “Can you hear me?”

The blue eyes seemed confused, but then understood.

“Sara.... why?.... how?...”

“Why didn't you find someplace to fix you? Nevermind, Gideon will do the job. We need to get you to the chopper, can you walk?”

“Sara...” There was almost a smile in his lips, but he seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open.

“I'll carry you, then.”

And so she did, staining all of her clothes and part of her arms with his blood in the process. This was not what was supposed to happen, he should be found being perfectly all right and doing... time... shenanigans, and not half dead, causing all of them to feel profoundly conflicted and generally sad.

“Ray!” Sara screamed over the sound of the chopper. “Is there any medical equipment in this helicopter, or anything you can work with?”

“I'll look!”

And so they were more or less alone. Her and Rip, both Captains of the Waverider, both deeply damaged people.

She tried to assess his damage, what injuries he had. It was bad, the worst of it being a deep slice in his stomach, that was the wound that was bleeding the worst. One of his legs was also bent in a weird way and there were abrasions in his forehead and ligature marks on his neck. Sara swallowed the knot in her throat and tried to focus.

She took out her cardigan and applied pressure with it on his stomach wound, trying to stop or at least stem the bleeding. He was too pale and cold to the touch, but the sudden pressure made him come back.

His big pale eyes were bright.

“Sara.... you... came for me?”

“We were worried.” She said. “And with good reason.”

There was so much blood, too much blood everywhere, and they had left a pool of it the alley where he was found. A person could only lose so much blood...

“You need to hang on, ok? Just until Gideon can fix you up.”

There was a look of finality in Rip's eyes and Sara was holding back tears.

“Sara... I'm sorry...”

No, this was not what Rip should be doing, he should be focusing on breathing and just generally staying alive, not regretting what he had done...

“You don't have to be. Not right now, ok?”

“I should've been... better... I never was... I never could... So many bad choices... I'm sorry.”

Sara took one of his bloodied hands on hers and squeezed it tightly, lost for words.

“I failed you....so... many times.....”

Sara shook her head, emotions overwhelming her.

“We failed you too.”

And then Ray came with some supplies, and before she knew it they were in the Waverider, and she lfet for her bedroom, still covered in blood and she cried. She let loose all of those feelings, all the grief, the betrayal, the anger. She wanted to still be mad at Rip... but she couldn't.

He had been bleeding out, and with his last breath he had wanted to apologise. Say he was sorry, that he'd done bad choices. And he'd been hurt so much... all throughout his life, he lost his family, he lost the trust of his organisation, of his crew... How many people had threatened to kill him, with hatred in their eyes?

Rip had a lot to atone for, but so did many of them, and they weren't punched and thrown around half as much as he was. She hadn't realised how much she'd missed him, how much she wished they could have back on the team until the moment she saw him again.

He had quite a striking face, if you could see behind the super coat and British accent. All angles and big eyes – so expressive. Should have been easy to read, but was exceptionally good at deception. And brave, even if like he himself had admitted, he didn't always make the best choices. But who had a record of perfect choices? Who cared for that, anyway?

She cared about him, more than she wanted to admit, and she wanted him to know that there was still someone that cared, would always care. He was part of them, of her at least, and things were not quite right without him. Or with him lying on a helicopter floor, dying.

She looked at her hands, and they were still stained with his blood. So red and present. _You nearly left him to die_ , she screamed at herself. _This man gave you a home, a new family, and you nearly left him dying on a dirty alley, alone, regretfu_ l.

She had to fix this, somehow. It would be painful, it would be difficult, but Rip was part of their team (part of her, too) and this situation could not stand. They had nearly lost him, they could still lose him, without telling him how important he was, how much better things were when he was around, even if it was chaos.

She took a shower – it was red, so red- and with a change of clothes went to medbay, hoping not to hear bad news. Ray's face wasn't all that great.

“How is he?”

“We fixed him as best as we could, but his not waking up. It seems there was damage from before this last attack, and a lot of...systems are not healing as they should. He's not breathing properly, the stabs are not clotting and the damage to his abdominal organs... I don't know if he'll make it. He's strong, but he's been through too much.”

Ominous.

“Why don't you take a break, Ray? I'll stay with him.”

Sara sat next to Rip's bedside, anxiously looking at the data on the screens. She wondered if he was not waking up because he didn't think it was worth it. But it was should have been – he deserved a longer, better life. There were bandages and stitches all over him, and Sara wondered how long had he been there, agonising before they showed up.

She remembered the surprise in his eyes when he saw her – he probably didn't think anyone was coming to get him, to save him. He probably thought this was his last day, and that he'd done too many wrong things to deserve being rescued. There had always been self-loathing in him, and she could relate. But she'd had a sister, even in her darkest times, she knew....

He hadn't known. For some time, Sara had hesitated about going back for him. Maybe if she hadn't he would awake now, awake so that he could hear the words she so desperately needed to say.

_You are forgiven._

_Can you forgive me?_

 

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing in this fandom, hope you enjoyed! I just like Rip, ok? Even though it doesn't look like it. 
> 
> Feedback means the world, if you enjoyed, please do tell!


End file.
